


True Colors

by donniesnarko



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: 'cause yanno, 80s had better slow dance songs, Dancing, M/M, My First Fanfic, Prom, Underage Smoking, also i know eddie and richie weren't in highschool in the 80s but go with it, and i really couldn't pass up the opportunity to use this song in particular, and swearing too, it's richie and eddie, richie is gay and so secretly listens to cyndi lauper i don't make the rules i just follow 'em
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-22 21:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23000815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donniesnarko/pseuds/donniesnarko
Summary: I see your true colors shining throughI see your true colors, and that's why I love youSo don't be afraid to let them showYour true colorsTrue colorsAre beautiful like a rainbow
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 24





	True Colors

**Author's Note:**

> A shamlessly fluffy promfic! I was originally planning to write a really emotional sad lil fanfiction but 80's prom music kept coming up on my shuffle, so I churned out this instead while having writer's block with the other fic. Tell me if you like it and I'll write more!

Eddie was alone at junior prom. Sitting on the bleachers, the perfect picture of a wilting wallflower, a cup of overly-sweet punch in his hand, hunched over and holding his chin in the palm of his hand. The entire gymnasium was cast in a purpley-blue light for their “A Night of Romance” theme, and it was crowded. The music had been mostly high energy, with a few slow dances in between that filtered out the people who’d decided to stag it from the people who had dates. It was a cruel practice, really, especially if you were one of those weeded out who hadn’t stagged it. Which, of course, was the category Eddie found himself in.  
He’d asked Amanda Parker out an entire three months before the dance, wanting to make sure that everything went how it was supposed to. He’d bought his suit the next month, and had continuously checked in with Amanda to make sure she was aware what colors they were going with, when she’d like to be picked up, where they’d be going for dinner, and what time he’d be dropping her back off at her house. Amanda, throughout the entire planning period, seemed sincere. She seemed nice. And then three days before the dance she told him that she wasn’t going to go. She’d been invited on a skiing trip. Her thinking was that she could go to prom next year, but she might never get another chance to go on a skiing trip. As if that made any sense. Eddie might’ve been a little naive when it came to girls, but this was a new low. He’d blown money on a corsage (which, by the way, who knew those damn things were so expensive?), and had just skipped on dinner, since he definitely wasn’t going by himself. He thought about talking to the guys about it, but in some miracle the rest of the losers had all secured dates. The little bit of pride he had left would absolutely not consign him to being a third wheel for anyone, and so he found himself on the sidelines, a cup of punch in one hand, and a sour-faced expression in the other.  
He got tired of feeling bad for himself when it reached eleven o’clock, when the music had gone back to high energy pop, and decided he was going to call it a night. Tossing the nearly empty cup into the trash, he went out into the halls and went to the water fountain, swishing water around in his mouth and spitting it back down into the drain. When that didn’t fix the feeling of sugar on his teeth, he went into the boy’s bathroom, pulling out a travel sized tube of toothpaste from the inside pocket of his suit jacket, as well as a toothbrush. He went to a sink and instantly realized that he smelled cigarette smoke. Crouching down and peering into one of the stalls, he saw a pair of black converse and a navy blue suit. The door swung open and Richie was standing there, a lit cigarette in one hand that he stubbed out on the stall  
“Please tell me you’re not brushing your fucking teeth at prom, dude.”  
“That is obviously what I’m doing, asshole. I can feel the fucking drinks out there rotting my teeth in real time.” Eddie bristled, and wet his toothbrush, muttering about how dirty the bathroom itself was, and how he didn’t even want to think of the particles that could be getting on his toothbrush.  
“What are you worried about Eds? You worried your hot date is gonna complain about stank breath?”  
Eddie paused, his face turning red at the mention of the date, and didn’t answer, choosing to start scrubbing his teeth. Richie laughed.  
“You totally are! Tell me when you get to first base, okay? Have you been dirty dancing out there, Eds?”  
Eddie spat, scowling. “Don’t call me Eds. And I don’t have a fucking date, Eienstein.”  
Richie frowned and pushed his specs up his nose, going to lean against the sink next to Eddie. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, Eddie noticed. His hair, which Richie usually couldn’t give less of a shit about, was actually combed, and his shirt looked ironed. 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵, Eddie thought, 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳?  
“What? I thought you asked out Amanda Perkins or whatever.”  
“Parker. And I did. She bailed.” Eddie answered, starting to scrub his tongue, careful not to gag himself. Richie looked confused.  
“She just...bailed? Why?”  
“Some stupid fucking skiing trip or something. I don’t really remember the specifics. Why do you care so much?” Eddie shot back, a little bitey at the end. If it bothered Richie, he didn’t show it. “Didn’t you have a date?” Eddie probed, rinsing his toothbrush and tapping it on the sink before getting a paper towel to plot the bristles with to dry them.  
Richie shook his head. “Nah. I just made some shit up so Ben and the other guys wouldn’t have to worry about me. I knew it was a really big deal to Ben so I didn’t want to fuck it up.”  
Eddie tucked his toothbrush back into his pocket after he was convinced it was dry enough.  
“Well, shit.”  
Richie crossed his arms, his eyebrows knit. Now that he’d put out his cigarette, Eddie could smell the cologne he was wearing. His suit made him look older, more handsome. It was a weird contrast to how Eddie was used to seeing him, but definitely not bad. At least, it didn’t look bad. He wasn’t a fan of how it brought up feelings he had tried diligently to smother through the years, but that was hardly Richie’s fault. All of a sudden, Richie laughed. Not like a regular laugh, but like a bitter sort of laugh that you’d come up with when you’ve run out of other things to do.  
“What’s funny?” Eddie asked, evidently missing out on the joke.  
“Just...we’re kinda fucking sad. I guess that’s not something to laugh at, really, but what else are ya gonna do, you know?”  
“Oh. Yeah, I guess.”  
There was a silence between them, then. The music from the gymnasium was still very audible, although muffled slightly from the wall between the two rooms. Another boy walked into the bathroom, and Eddie and Richie both tried to look busy while he did his business and walked back out without washing his hands. Eddie wrinkled his nose.  
“God, feel bad for the chick he’s screwing tonight.”  
“Ew.”  
“Wonder if he’s gonna try fingerpainting tonight?”  
“That’s disgusting.” Eddie said, holding back a retch. Richie laughed, the laugh sounding much more honest this time. Eddie held back a smirk. The music switched again, going to another slow dance.  
“Ooh, Cyndi Lauper. A throwback.” Richie smiled fondly, like he was reminiscing about his childhood as a retired old man.  
“I guess they’re running out of material.” Eddie shrugged. “How did you know this was Cyndi Lauper? She wasn’t even singing yet.”  
Richie ignored his question. Eddie rolled his eyes.  
“You know, I’ve actually never slow danced with anyone before.” Richie said, sort of quietly. Shyly, almost. It was weird hearing him sound shy.  
“Huh. Me neither. I was always too short for the girls in our grade.”  
Richie looked over at Eddie, and they both laughed. “You’re lucky you got that growth spurt.”  
“Wish it woulda lasted longer.” Eddie replied, chuckling.  
Richie nodded, then uncrossed his arms and stepped in front of Eddie. Before Eddie could say anything, he held out his hand.  
“May I have this dance?”  
Eddie’s first reaction was to laugh, and so he did. Richie grinned in response, but he didn’t lower his hand.  
“Are you kidding?”  
“Why would I be kidding? It’s nearly eleven fifteen and Cinderella here hasn’t gotten her dance with the prince. Enter prince.” He bowed, and then in a very terrible English accent, he asked again, “May I have this dance?”  
“Fuck you.” Eddie laughed, still not sure how to respond. He was a little shocked. Was he being serious? It sounded like a joke. Fuck, it looked like a fucking joke. They were in the boy’s goddamn bathroom. But something in Richie’s eyes didn’t look like he was trying to pull off a joke. He put his hand in Richie’s, and suddenly Richie’s hand went to his waist. Following along, his hand went to his shoulder. “I’m not a princess.” He muttered angrily, but had a hard time keeping a smile off his face.  
“Is that why I’m leading?” Richie teased, and then they were dancing. It was a little ridiculous, and Eddie accepted that. But there was another part of it that didn’t feel so ridiculous. Richie’s hand on his waist didn’t feel ridiculous. His hand fit right into Richie’s, a little smaller and not as rough, but it felt nice. It felt right. Everything felt right. When they attempted to spin and Richie nearly spun into a stall, he pulled Eddie closer, to where their chests nearly touched.  
“It..it’s a little crowded here.” He stammered. Eddie decided quickly that he didn’t mind. He leaned his head against Richie’s chest and closed his eyes. It was almost like a regular hug, with an extra layer added. He could feel Richie’s heart beating, and all of the ridiculousness of the situation completely melted away. He felt like he was floating. He hoped Richie felt the same way.  
When the song ended, they stepped away from each other, Eddie’s hand nearly slipping out of Richie’s until he was caught by the fingertips. Richie pulled his hand up to his lips and planted a small kiss on Eddie’s knuckles. He could have melted on the spot.  
Luckily, he didn’t. And even more luckily, Richie broke the tension by smirking and saying,  
“Let’s go get some fucking ice cream or something.”  
Eddie laughed. “Yeah. sounds good.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :)


End file.
